The reason renewal was delayed is because it took that long for Warners to find the right pressure point to convince CBS that they would lose more than they would gain by not renewing (eg threatening to air it on a different channel in direct competition with a CBS show. Warner would be happy to pay for another season, the show still makes a lot of money for them because they get the revenue from syndication, overseas sales and DVD sales. CBS get none of that and with falling ad revenues across the board it's becoming increasingly desirable for them to predominantly have their own shows (exceptions are shows that have very high ad revenues because of strong ratings amongst younger viewers eg The Big Bang Theory). As for whether or not Simon would be prepared to sign up for more seasons, I think maybe he would within reason, perhaps one or two more short seasons, I remember him saying in an interview that he wouldn't walk away from Patrick unless Patrick walked away from him.